


Couch Lock

by Ambear9



Series: Chuck vs Prompts [5]
Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: Couch Lock, M/M, Season 4 Episode 5, Secret Relationship, episode rewrite, plus some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:01:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25831747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambear9/pseuds/Ambear9
Summary: Chuck has to deal with his boyfriend faking his death, then trying to find him when he is taken while trying to keep their relationship hidden.
Relationships: Chuck Bartowski/John Casey
Series: Chuck vs Prompts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071008
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Couch Lock

**Author's Note:**

> *Trigger warning*  
> There is a slight mention of past child abuse, no details of what happened though.  
> Mention of suicide

“Hey”  
“What do you want Bartowski”  
“For you to lose the attitude, I saw you break the scanner earlier”  
“I hate this place”  
“We all do, but I neeeeeed you down in Castle”  
“It’s about damn time”  
“Uh no, sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s a mission thing”  
“Can I shoot something at least”  
“Not yet”  
Casey growled.  
"We can go to the range after work, I promise"  
"Moving targets are more fun"  
"I'll pretend you didn't say that"

“So how do you know these guys?” Chuck slide the picture across the table  
Casey told Chuck and Sarah about the job where he and the three guys had to steal some gold and lock it away “So after I secured the gold using my handprint, I dragged my former team halfway across the desert. Thereby saving their miserable mutinous lives”  
“Oh, um okay, then what happened?”  
“I had’em court-martialed, but they escaped a maximum-security prison”  
“To the Los Angeles underground where they survived as soldiers of fortune” Chuck mocked, Casey glared  
“A-team anyone?” Chuck looked between Sarah and Casey “No, haven’t seen it?”  
“I was the A-team” Casey growled  
“Ahhh”  
“They have taken a few shots at me over the years, but the last time I taught them to stay hidden” he smirked  
“Any idea on how we can find them?” Sarah interrupted before Chuck decided to quote anything else.  
“Why would we want to do that?”  
“They might be the key to locating my mom” Chuck looked at him with a pain in his eyes, and Casey wished that Walker wasn’t there so he could hug his boyfriend, he had never had the urge to hug anyone before, that was new.  
“Honestly the only thing that would bring those three sons of bitches together again would be my funeral”  
“That we can do”  
“No” Chuck may have said a little too loud  
“I don’t mean actually kill him, Chuck, we can fake it”  
“We should call the General” Chuck looked at Casey hoping he would protest, but he didn't

“Let me get this straight” General Beckman removed her glasses “You want to use government resources to stage a fake funeral for Colonel Casey?”  
“Uh yes” Chuck looked over at Sarah who hadn’t spoken up, “I think it will give us an opportunity to set a trap to catch three Volkoff agents and find out more about his operations”  
“If they think I’m dead, they will come for this” Casey held up his hand “The key to the gold”  
“What’s the plan Bartowski”  
“Well first we spread news of Casey’s death through all the back channels that civilians don’t monitor but Volkoff does, next up we kill the Colonel” Chuck’s voice cracked a little at the end of the sentence  
“I’ll be drugged ma’am”  
“When they see Casey’s body, we believe they will drop their guard and we will be able to move in” Sarah added  
Chuck pulled up the blueprint of the church where Casey’s funeral will be held “We have it all mapped out, including snipers and a room full of Agents that we will handpick”  
“Good job with the plan Chuck, the mission is a go”  
“Thank you General” Chuck smiled  
“Don’t get too happy about killing me Chuck” Casey glared.  
“I’m not, that’s not what”  
“Kidding, can we go get lunch now?”

Chuck was trying to help Casey button up his dress blues  
“Pesky uniform gets a little tight when you don’t wear’em for a while” he grunted as Chuck pulled tighter  
“I mean you can wear it more if you want”  
“I don’t want”  
“You look really handsome, and it really makes your eyes pop”  
“Stop hitting on me Bartowski”  
“Never gonna happen” Chuck gave him a quick kiss. “And if at any point the mission gets a little too dangerous and you need to back out”  
“There is no such thing”  
“Okay but like you have Alex now and your relationship is great and um well you have a boyfriend now, and I just”  
“Stop getting sappy and tell me about this drug you’re using to kill me”  
“Paralyze, can we stop saying kill”  
“What’s it called fake-a-deathanol” Casey chuckled at his own joke.  
“Cute” Chuck rolled his eyes, “It's tetrodotoxin” Chuck opened the case. “We have modified it so it’ll just slow down your breathing and heart rate. So you will look very very dead but in fact, be very much alive and awake  
“Sounds good”  
“What do you think about Morgan delivering your eulogy, I know it’s random but Sarah and I will be busy keeping an eye out for your old team and I can’t do it, plus you know, the whole secret relationship thing”  
“It’s a fake funeral, I don’t really care, but Alex can’t find out”  
“Obviously”  
“We have like ten minutes to waste” He winked  
“It took us twenty to get your clothes on, you couldn’t have thought of that before”  
“I can get my pants unzipped”  
“If we survive this mission, then I promise you the second we get back into this apartment I will blow you, but now, you can settle for some kisses” Chuck cupped Casey’s face in his left hand, rubbing over the small scar on his cheek with his thumb.  
“Stop freaking out”  
“I’m worried how I’m going to react when I see you laying there”  
“This is the same as any other mission, maybe even safer because I’ll just be laying there”  
“Yeah and you won’t be able to move, and you are always the one needing to save me”  
“You’re an amazing spy Chuck, I have faith in you” Casey leaned in and kissed him.  
They had to straighten Casey’s suit and Chuck’s hair before they left his apartment.

Chuck and Morgan were standing next to the coffin looking down at Casey, Chuck’s heart hurt.  
“He looks so peaceful” Morgan went to poke him but Casey opened his eyes “Woah, holy crap did you know he could do that?”  
“I knew he could do that” Chuck tried to keep a straight face.  
“Stop doing that” Morgan whined “I’m going to walk away, and go over my notes” he patted his chest. “Don’t you worry about a thing buddy, I’m going to eulogize the hell out of you buddy”  
Chuck watched as Morgan walked away, he reached over and grabbed Casey’s hand. “This is harder than I thought” he looked around to make sure no one was around “I know right now is not the ideal time to talk to you but honestly it’s so much easy this way because sometimes you scare me and I know you hate it when I talk about emotions and stuff but I really do love you John, and I know you won’t say it back and I’ve come to accept that, so saying it now when you can’t say anything at all was my way of coping with that, so yeah um, see ya later” he turned to walk away and walked right into Sarah “Hey, hi, hello”  
“You okay?”  
“Great, um did you hear any of that? Because it’s rude to um listen to people when they are grieving”  
“I didn’t hear anything Chuck”

Chuck watched as the first guy, Mackintosh, walked up to the casket and took the flag pin off his jacket and stabbed it into the back of Casey’s hand. “He can’t just do that” he whispered to Sarah. “He can still feel pain you know”  
“It’s going to be okay, that probably felt like nothing to him”  
Chuck nodded at Morgan, who then stepped up to the podium, clearing his throat into the mic making it screech. “You know if there was one word I’d use to describe John Casey it would be forgiveness, big, gun-loving, commie hating forgiveness, and there was something I wanted to tell him before he passed and I know John is out there somewhere listening to this” Morgan made the mistake of looking over at Casey who was now glaring at him. “I just wanted him to know how handsome he is, and I mean wow can that man really fill out a uniform”  
“Okay” Chuck stood up and walked over to Morgan, he put his hand over the microphone so no one could hear them “Now is not the time for this Morgan, you can tell him later, I’ll be there so he won’t kill you”  
“You can’t promise that he won’t”  
“I can, now please go sit down”  
Chuck looked up to see another one of the targets, T.I., walking into the church “Uh hi, um my name is Chuck and Casey, he is, um he was my friend and coworker, and you know John didn’t have many friends but” he watched as that guy pressed his lit cigar on to the skin between Casey’s glove and jacket sleeve. “But I was his friend and I’m really going to miss playing board games with him until midnight, he is probably upset that he never did get to kick my ass at a game of chess, but he sure was trying” Chuck bit the side of his cheek to stop himself from tearing up “And I’ll” the door opened again and a third guy, Packard, came in “I’ll never forget all the amazing life advice he gave me, or teaching me how to drive a stick, even though I almost killed us a few times”  
All three guys were now standing up by Casey’s casket, the last guy to come in was laughing, then pulled out a gun, every agent in there stood up and pointed their guns back at them. “Did you really think we’d come to Case’s funeral unprepared?”  
“You’re all under arrest, give up now” Chuck kept his tranq gun pointed at them as he made his way over to stand by Sarah.  
“We have every exit covered” Sarah glared at them  
“I think you missed one” The third guy pulled something out of his pocket and pressed it. Small explosions went off all over the church and when the smoke cleared Chuck ran up to where Casey was supposed to be but instead the only thing there was a big hole with an empty casket “Casey” he yelled, knowing it was pointless. “I lost Casey” he sighed.

“I can’t believe this” Chuck slammed open the door to Castle “I got him to fake his own death and now he can’t defend himself, this is all my fault”  
“There is a team out looking for him”  
“I know that Sarah” Chuck loaded up the computer ad started looking up the location of the tracker he hid in Casey’s pocket.  
“Did you find him” Morgan looked over his shoulder  
“Yeah, send the team in Sarah” Chuck nervously looked at the screen “Please be alive Casey, please”

Chuck picked up his phone “This is Agent Bartwoksi”  
“This is the tactical team, we are at the location now”  
“Do you have him?”  
“We found the tracker, it’s on a cat sir”  
“Did you say a cat?”  
“Want us to take care of it?”  
“Oh god no, no, just take it off and let the cat go, geez” Chuck sat his phone down calmly, resisting his urge to slam it into the wall  
“Where is Casey”  
“I don’t know Sarah, I DON’T KNOW”  
“Stay calm Chuck, we will find him”  
“What if they already cut his hand off”

\---------------------------------------------------

Casey heard the explosion and knew he was being carried off, but he couldn’t do anything about it.  
He knew he was now laying on something hard and his old team was standing around him arguing over what tool to use to cut his hand off. He wanted to open his eyes but he didn’t want to risk it. But after a few minutes their voices started to trail off so he peaked and saw he was now alone in what looked like an old warehouse, he growled at his feet “Move dammit” his left foot moved a little, then his right. “Come on Colonel, you got this,” he said to himself. His hand started to move but then they came back in the room and he had to play dead again. He gritted his teeth as he heard the sound of the saw getting closer, but there was a bell sound and the saw stopped.  
The men left the room again, this was Casey’s chance, he used everything he had to get his body to move...he fell off the table. Thankfully he was able to get himself up, but he didn’t realize his wallet and the extra syringe had fallen out of his pocket.  
He tried to find a way out but couldn’t so he looked around for a weapon, all he could find was a two by four, so he took a deep breath and went for it, jumping out and hitting one of them in the back of the head, unfortunately, he got stabbed with the other syringe of tetrodotoxin, but thanks to his stubbornness and the immunity he has built up over the years it took a while to kick in, he took out the other two guys before jumping out the window into a pile of trash bags and boxes, he could feel the toxin starting to work but he needed to get as far away as possible, then he remember he had his phone on him, if only he didn’t disable the tracking, then Chuck would have already found him. His vision was blurry as he scrolled through his contacts, he hoped he got the right one.  
“Casey, code red, been drugged, need extraction, in alley 4th and Hill” he looked over “I’ll be in a dumpster”

\----------------------------------

“This is the spot where I tracked Casey’s phone too, he thinks he disabled it but now it just takes longer”  
“I don’t even want to ask”  
“Stay alert” Chuck and Sarah walked around looking in and behind all the dumpsters until Chuck found Casey’s phone, he picked it up and turned on the screen to see his face, he couldn’t help but smile. He quickly turned it off and put it in his back pocket before Sarah could see. “He isn’t here”  
“He couldn’t have gotten far”  
Chuck’s phone rang “No Morgan, we haven’t found him yet”  
“Uh yeah, about that, Jeff and Lester have him”  
“What do you mean Jeff and Lester have him?”  
“I don’t know the entire story but they are taking him back to our apartment so meet you there?”  
“See you soon buddy”

Morgan paced back in forth in front of Casey “I think Chuck and Sarah are on their way, it will be fine”  
There was a knock at the door “Maybe that’s them, wait, no, why would they knock?”Morgan opened the door “Oh hi big scary guy”  
“Where is Casey”  
“I don’t know a Casey”  
The guy gripped the front of Morgan’s suit “If you see him, tell him we have his two friends and are going on a gold-digging trip, he will know where we are”  
“Right okay”  
“He better hurry or you will have two more funerals to go to”  
“Have a nice day”  
“Casey, did you hear that? We have a problem” Morgan looked at his phone for a minute before calling Devon  
“Morgan, what’s up hombre?”  
“So Jeff took too much I don’t know what and now he has come down with couch-lock”  
“Ah, okay, well he over-medicated, need me to come help”  
“No dude it’s cool, I got this, you stay there and saves lives and stuff”  
“You need to get his heart rate up, scare him or get him angry”  
“That’s awesome, thank you so much awe...some” he hung up “That was weird”  
Morgan stood in front of Casey and took a deep breath, “Sorry Sir” Morgan slapped Casey across the face. “Holy ouch batman” he shook his hand “It’s like slapping a car”  
Morgan looked around “Okay, here it goes, Casey, oh crap, um so the thing is, I am, I am dating Alex, your daughter” Casey's eyes went wide “Well we are kind of on the rocks because I had to lie to her to save you which sucks but yeah so before that though there was hand-holding and kissing, so much kissing”  
Casey growled  
“I just need you to know, I’ve been a perfect gentleman, always, I promise” Morgan’s sentence was cut off when Casey’s hand gripped his throat. Lifting him in the air as he stands, Morgan slapped his arm.  
“I will kill you” he dropped Morgan to the floor.  
“See I knew that would work” Morgan stood up brushing himself off “Welcome back sir, bring it in” he went in for a hug, Casey punched him in the gut.  
“Too soon” Morgan groaned

Casey would never tell him, but he was impressed with Morgan helping him set up the computer and how brave he was being when they got to the spot to rescue Chuck and Sarah.  
“Okay Grimes, when you hear me say security”  
“Wair, the code word is pineapple”  
“How the hell am I going to work that into a conversion, it’s security, and when I say it, flip this switch and turn the lights out”  
“Got it, security, switch, okay” Morgan looked at the screen “Are you sure Casey, it’s three against one”  
“Just the way I like it” he winked before kicking in the door and heading down the stairs.

“So you try for eleven years to get me and your best plan is to kidnap these two?”  
“If you hadn’t been such a hard ass, Casey, we wouldn’t all be here right now” Packard pointed his gun at him  
“Yeah, we would be on a beach, earning twenty percent, unless we invested in real estate” Mackintosh added  
“Now drop your weapon” T.I. glared.  
Casey sat down the assault rifle he was holding  
“All of them” Packard smirked  
Casey groaned as he started unpacking all the guns, knives and grenades he had on him “You know, I would have come unarmed but I wasn’t sure what kind of security I would run into”  
Outside the bunker, Morgan flipped the switch, nothing happening.  
“I SAID, I wasn’t sure what kind of SECURITY I would run into”  
Morgan flipped the switch again but the machine started to spark, then water started gushing out of a pipe behind Sarah.  
“What the hell is going on” Packard looked over at the water that was starting to fill the room.  
T.I. grabbed Casey and drug him over to the hand scanner, forcing his hand on to it, when the door opened he dragged Casey over and handcuffed him up next to Chuck. “Topside there is fifteen of the toughest special forces soldiers you’ve ever seen” Casey growled “They got ten thousand rounds of ammo, a squadron of F-15 fighters a radio call away, your move”  
Mackintosh cocked his gun “Well maybe I’ll get lucky” he fired out the door.  
Morgan screamed.  
“IS that a little girl?” T.I. laughed.  
“Surrender or we will kill them” Mackintosh called out  
“They will never surrender” Casey snarled  
“I surrender” Morgan yelled “Please do not shoot me” he stood next to Casey with his hands in the air. “The cable” he nodded to Casey when the guy’s backs were to them as they went to get the gold.  
Casey rolled his eyes “Lift your feet” He looked over and Chuck and Sarah “Now”  
Morgan jumped up, grabbing the cable, pulling it down to the ground that now had about two inches of water covering it.  
Casey was able to pull the chains from the wall, he helped Chuck and Sarah out of their cuffs before tying the guys up with Chuck’s help while Sarah carried Morgan out of there”  
Chuck looked at the guys who were passed out then made sure Sarah and Morgan were no longer down there.  
“It’s good to see you, Colonel”  
"Stop pouting Bartowski, I'm safe"  
"I know, but I really need a hug"  
"A hug that turns into sex?"  
"Does everything we do have to result in sex?"  
"Yes"  
"Fine, but it's going to be a long hug and you're going to like it, and the sex isn’t happening down here”  
“We have a long flight home” Casey pulled Chuck into a hug, holding him tighter and longer than he usually did, but damn he needed this just as much as Chuck did.  
“I missed you too Bartowski”  
“Good to know” Chuck patted Casey’s chest  
“And uh” he cleared his throat, looking around at where they were “Nevermind, we can talk about it later” he grabbed Chuck’s hand squeezing it.  
“You know, it’s funny how even when I’m trying to be the hero and save your ass, you still end up saving mine”  
“I have more plans for that ass”  
“Oh my god, you are horny”  
“Your arms looked nice, and if we were alone I’d tie you back up”  
Chuck laughed “You do look really nice in that camo”  
“Chuck? Casey” Sarah called down  
“On our way”

“Dude Sarah said I died” Morgan looked up at Chuck  
“It was like three seconds” Casey rolled his eyes.  
“What about the3 bad guys?’  
Casey glanced towards the door “A little crispy, but alive”  
“Morgan, that was the single bravest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do, never do it again”  
“No” Morgan shook his head “Can we go home now”

Chuck walked into his bedroom, slipping his robe off as he walked back to his bed “Your coffee sir”  
“Thanks” Casey sat up, resting his back against the headboard  
“So Morgan is having a little dinner party tonight”  
“As long as Jeff and Lester aren’t there, I’ll come over”  
“No, they aren’t allowed around Ellie”  
“They keep asking me to do drugs with them”  
“They did find you in a dumpster”  
“I tried calling you, not them”  
“But they saved you”  
“I’m not getting high with them”  
“I don’t want you to either, there was like one time, you know what nevermind” Chuck took a sip of his coffee  
“I’ll get that story from you one day”  
“Today is not that day” Chuck smirked “But Morgan did just leave for work so we have eight hours alone to be as loud as we want” Chuck playful bit his bottom lip.  
“We could have had all night and all day if we slept at my apartment” Casey drank some more of his coffee before setting the cup on the side table.  
“Okay, but we had a long day and your bed is like a rock, mine is this heavenly cloud of softness”  
Casey grabbed Chuck’s coffee and sat it next to his “I can tell it’s driving you insane that I haven’t mentioned what you said”  
“About what?” Chuck knew exactly what he was talking about “Okay fine, you’re allowed to be mad at me about Alex and Morgan, but it wasn’t my place to tell you”  
Casey growled “We can talk about that later”  
“I’m just saying, Morgan is a good guy and he really likes Alex and you have to admit that he has changed a lot over the last few years and I think they make such a cute couple and he had to break up with her to keep you safe when you were stuck on the couch”  
“Chuck, I said we can talk about it later, and I already talked to Alex about it and have given them permission to date, now can we talk about something else”  
“Like what?”  
“The fact that you felt that it was necessary to tell me that you loved me when I couldn’t respond because you thought I’d get mad that you were talking about emotions”  
“Sorry” Chuck shyly looked away  
“I know I tease you about your emotions, but I don’t ever want you to feel like you need to hide them from me or feel scared and I’m upset at myself for making you think that I could never love you”  
“Can we act like that never happened, so I can tell you now, that I am in fact in love with you”  
“A naked I love you is so much better than a paralyzed one” Casey laughed “And I do love you, Charles Bartowski”  
“You’re so cute”  
“Shut up” He pushed Chuck down on his back and climbed on top of him.  
“Ooooh now we can make love”  
“What’s the difference?”  
Chuck shrugged, “Um, slower, more kissing? Honestly, I have no idea, but it sounds nice”  
Casey reached over and grabbed the bottle of lube still sitting on the side table from last night. “How about I kiss you the same amount and say I love you one more time and fuck you hard and fast”  
“I mean, I’d never say no to that but I don’t think it counts and also I think you should say it more than once”  
“You’re pushing it” Casey pressed two sliced fingers into Chuck’s hole making him yell out “Fuck”  
Casey laughed.  
“You’re evil”  
“You love it”  
Chuck’s finger’s gripped the hair on the back of Casey’s head, tugging him down into a kiss.  
Casey added another finger, quickly working Chuck open for him, which didn’t take long, he added a little more lube to his cock, he lined himself, leaning forward to hold himself up with one arm, he looked into Chuck’s eyes “I love you, Bartowski”  
Chuck’s laugh was cut off with a moan when Casey pushed into him “I love you, John” Chuck wrapped his arms and legs around Casey and pulled him as close as he could get him.

Casey ran his finger’s through Chuck’s hair as he rested his head on his chest. “I need you to promise me something”  
“Anything”  
“When I really die, don’t let Grimes speak at my funeral, or my ghost will haunt you both for eternity”  
“So you’re saying I’d get to see you again”  
“Bartowski” Casey growled.  
“Well you’re never going to die so I will make that promise”  
“I’m older than you, and my job is more dangerous”  
“Shhh, we aren’t talking about it, but I am glad you think we will be together forever”  
“Why would I think any different?”  
“Ugh you are so cute, I’m totally going to blow you when your old man body is ready”  
“What did you just say to me?” Casey pinched Chuck’s nipple.  
“Ouch” Chuck smacked his hand.  
“You said ouch, but your dick poking my leg tells a different story”  
“At this point, I’m going to be walking funny at dinner”  
Casey laughed pulling Chuck on top of him “Want me to stop”  
“Nope”

“Hey, Casey, welcome” Chuck acted like he wasn’t just at Casey’s an hour ago taking a shower after they spent most of the day in Chuck’s bed having sex.  
“Hi John” Ellie called from behind him  
“Hell Ellie, you look beautiful”  
“Thanks”  
“Chuck told me you are having girl, congratulations, they are great” he smiled at Alex  
“Hey Casey, let me grab you a beer”  
Casey followed Chuck into the kitchen. “Everyone looks so happy”  
“Because we are”  
“You know Morgan said something to me about how sad it was that no one came to my funeral”  
“Well to be fair the people who like you the most are in this room and half didn’t know about the fake funeral and”  
“And you didn’t let me finish, I was going to say, and I think I’m okay with that, I’ve spent my life alone and pushing people away, and for the first time in my life I’m content”  
“If fake killing you is what made you this mushy, we should have done it a long time ago”  
Casey rolled his eyes “I blame you” he grabbed the front of Chuck’s button-up and pulled him into a quick kiss.  
“Dad?”  
“Alex” he took a step back from Chuck.  
“I saw that”  
“And don’t hide it, cause dude, we all know” Morgan walked up next to her  
“Wait, how long have you known?”  
Morgan shrugged, “Well there was this one night I went to your room to see if you had a cond….I mean comic book” he nervously looked at Alex, “Yeah a comic book and you were sneaking out his window so naturally, I looked to see where he was going and you answered the door shirtless, oh and he kissed you”  
“Sorry we didn’t tell you”  
“It’s okay dude, I mean we hid us from Casey for a few weeks, it wasn’t almost a year but I guess I understand”  
“I just don’t understand why you had to hide it from me” Ellie was now standing behind Morgan and Alex “But we all knew, it was kind of obvious”  
“Well we are in love so no use hiding it anymore” Chuck grabbed Casey’s hand.  
“No wonder his funeral was so hard for you yesterday”  
“What?” Alex looked between Morgan and her dad.  
“He’s drunk” Casey glared at him “So what’s for dinner”

“Wake up” Casey flicked Chuck’s ass  
“No”  
“Get your ass out of bed, or I’m picking you up and putting you in the shower”  
“I dare you” Chuck mumbled from where his face was smashed into his pillow. He yelped when Casey flipped him over, grabbed him around the waist, and carried him fireman style to the bathroom.  
“I have to pee” he straightened his shirt when Casey put him down in the bathroom.  
“Then piss and join me in the shower, we have somewhere to be”  
“But you’re in here?”  
“Chuck, I’ve had your dick in my mouth and my tongue in your ass yet you don’t want me to see you pee”  
“Sounds weird when you say it like that, but okay” Chuck waited until Casey was in the shower before he went pee, it took him a few seconds to convince his bladder it was okay. Then stripped off his clothes and joined Casey in the shower.  
“So where are we going that is so important that I need to be woken up”  
“It’s nine”  
“Which is too early for my day off”  
“The fact that I know what today is and you don’t is weird”  
“It’s Thursday, the eighteenth”  
“It’s Thursday the nineteenth”  
“Wait” Chuck looked at his wrist as if he had a watch on “Are you sure”  
“Yup”  
“I’m a horrible boyfriend”  
“I never said that”  
“Happy one year anniversary” He kissed Casey “And just for the record I have a date planned for us on Saturday after work, if you don’t believe me, I can show you the email”  
Casey laughed “I believe you”  
“So you’re not telling me what we are doing?”  
“We are going to have breakfast”  
“Ohhh where?”  
“Alex is working the morning shift today, thought we would stop in and say hi”  
“Oh my god, that place has the best pancakes”  
“I know”  
“Remember when we first met and you wanted to kill me so you could go get pancakes”  
“I have no memory of that”  
Chuck laughed “I forgive you for trying to kill me”  
“I didn’t do it, shouldn’t that count?”  
“It does and I love you so much for that”

“Hello you two, welcome” she poured some coffee into the two coffee cups that were already on the table “Do I even need to get you guys a menu or will it be the usual?”  
“The usual” Chuckgrabbed a few packets of sugar and added them to his coffee  
“Thanks, Alex”  
“Do you think her coworkers remember you and the fact that you carried her out of here and shoved her into a car?”  
“Shut up Bartowski”  
“It’s a valid question”  
Casey froze, yeah he was used to hearing his old name said but people around him since his daughter now had his old name, but hearing it said it a certain voice was something he never thought he would hear again.  
“Casey are you okay?”  
Casey turned to see his ex-fiance standing not too far away talking to their daughter, Chuck followed his line of sight “Oh”  
“I didn’t want it to happen this way”  
“We can sneak out the back, cause a distraction”  
“Too late” Casey whispered as Kathleen walked towards them  
“Alex?” She stared at him for a moment then looked back at her daughter  
“Kath”  
“I thought it was you”  
“I guess we have a lot to talk about”  
“I don’t understand, we had your funeral, I was given your flag, but you didn’t die, you just left, left me for what?”  
“I don’t know what to say”  
“I take it Alex knows?”  
“Mom”  
“I need some time” She walked out of the restaurant.  
“Dad I’m so sorry, I had no idea she was coming here”  
“It’s not your fault”  
“I can talk to her, it will be okay”  
“No, um, I’ll do it, I need to” Casey got up and walked quickly to the parking lot

“Kathleen” he called out, she stopped and turned to look at him  
“What do you want Alex?”  
“I need you to know”  
“Okay, but you’re buying me breakfast”  
“I can do that, and it’s John, my name is John Casey”  
“John” She smiled, following him back into the restaurant.  
Casey slid into the booth next to Chuck, offering Kathleen the booth where he had been sitting.  
Casey nodded to Chuck “This is my uh friend Chuck”  
“Hello, I’m Kathleen, Alex’s mom” She held out her hand to Chuck  
“Nice to meet you” Chuck held out his hands “I’ve heard a lot about you from Alex and Morgan, he is my best friend”  
Alex walked over and gave her mom a cup of coffee “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you mom”  
“I’m not sure I would have believed you, how long has it been?”  
“Remember when there was an um gas leak in the house, yeah um since then, I’ll let dad explain it, I have tables to wait on”  
“So long story short, I had to fake my death and become John Casey, then a little over a year ago the man who recruited me to do that had turned rouge and told me he was going to kill you, it wasn’t until we saved you and Alex walked into the house that I knew about her”  
“What have you been doing all these years?”  
“I’ve worked for the N.S.A”  
“Are you N.S.A also Chuck?”  
“Uh no, kind of, I can’t really say”  
“So you really are the hero that I’ve always told Alex you were”  
“Not sure if I’d say that”  
“Are you kidding?” Chuck looked at him “You are amazing, and just in the few years I’ve known you, you have saved so many people and done some amazing things, and I know for a fact Alex thinks you are a hero, and so do I” he squeezed Casey’s thigh  
“See that thing you’re doing with your fingers?”  
Casey looked down at his hand where he was mindlessly rubbing his pointer and middle finger together  
“Alex does the same thing when she is nervous”  
“I hadn’t noticed”  
“She looks so much like you, it’s like a part of you was always with me”  
“I tell him that all the time, he doesn’t believe me, but then again I have never seen you before, but Alex looks like a great mix of the two of you”  
Alex walked up to the table holding a tray, she gave Chuck and Casey a worried look as she set the first plate down in front of her mom, then a plate of fruit with a side of hashbrowns in front of Chuck and a plate with bacon and sausage in front of Casey, she hesitated before setting the last plate down, it was their big plate of pancakes, it had a whipped cream heart with J + C written in the middle.  
“Oh” Kathleen looked at the pancakes then looked at them “Interesting”  
“It’s our one year anniversary” Chuck looked at Casey “Of being friends I guess”  
“Congrats” She gave them a questioning look  
“Thanks” Casey grabbed the warm syrup and poured it over the heart, making the letters melt away.  
“How long have you been um”  
“Gay, I’m not”  
“That’s news to me” Chuck looked at him confused.  
“Can we talk about this later? I’m starving” Casey shoved a big bite of pancake in his mouth.  
“Sure, but can you move, I have to use the restroom please”  
Chuck snuck out the back of the restaurant  
“Morgan I need an emergency evacuation”  
“What? I thought there was no mission today, what happened to the big anniversary thing”  
“Wait, you know about that?”  
“Yeah, Casey has been talking about it for like a week”  
“Well we just sat down for breakfast and Kathleen showed up”  
“Shit”  
“Yeah, it’s weird and I want out of here”  
“Where are you”  
“Just left, I’m walking towards the beach”  
“I’ll be there in ten”  
Chuck made his way to the beach, finding a nice spot to sit where no one was around.

Chuck looked over when someone sat down next to him “I should have known Morgan was going to call you”  
“He didn’t, I figured it out on my own”  
“It was starting to get stuffy in there”  
“I’m sorry”  
“For which part? The part where you were looking at Kathleen like you still loved her, or when you called me your friend and destroyed our pancake heart as fast as you could, or the part where you told me you were straight”  
“What the hell are you talking about?”  
“I saw the way you looked at her”  
“I will always love Kath, she was my first everything, she is the reason I have Alex, who is the most amazing person I’ve ever met, but I’m not in love with her, and why the hell does my sexuality matter? All that should matter is that I am in fact in love with you and only you”  
“Bryce was my first everything and I don’t love him”  
“He is a tool”  
“I’m just confused, and I think I have every right to be”  
“You’re being dramatic”  
“Just leave me alone Casey, please”  
“Are you serious right now?”  
Chuck couldn’t look at him.  
“Wow” Casey stood up. “I remember the first time we met, it was chaotic and I thought you were just another mark off my kill list, then Sarah convinced me that you were important, you then proved yourself right away by saving all those people from a bomb, you were scared but you kept a brave face, then you disappeared and I tracked you to this exact beach” Casey sat something down next to Chuck but he didn’t look at it, he didn’t want Casey to see him cry. “We sat there in silence for awhile watching the sunrise, then we talked, which is something I never do. I told you about things that I’ve never told anyone, and I knew from that moment you were someone special that I always wanted in my life”  
Casey stood there for a moment waiting for Chuck to say something but he didn’t.  
“See ya around Bartowski”  
Chuck counted to twenty very slowly before turning to look at what Casey sat down. It was a small red box. Chuck picked it up, his hand was shaking as he opened the lid. The thin black band glistened in the sun. “Casey” he called out, looking around for him, but he didn’t see him “Fuck” he pulled out his phone and called Casey, he heard Casey’s ringtone, he followed it until he saw it lying in the sand, he looked around “Casey?” he put Casey’s phone in his back pocket and the ring in his front before heading back towards the restaurant, he called Sarah  
“Casey is missing”  
“What do you mean?”  
“We had a fight and we were at the beach and I let him walk away and i didn’t see where he went so I tried calling him and his phone was just laying in the sand like twenty feet from me”  
“Maybe he just dropped it?”  
“I’m heading back to see if he is at the restaurant or if Alex knows anything, but I think you should let the General know, just in case”  
“I’m sure he is fine Chuck”  
“Did you know he was going to propose?”  
“He told me he was thinking about it, did you say no?”  
“Uh no, not exactly, we ran into Kathleen today and he introduced me as a friend then said he wasn’t gay and I got mad and left, he found me at the beach and said all this stuff then sat the ring down next to me, I didn’t see it until he was gone”  
“I’m sure he just needs a moment alone, you know how he is when it comes to talking about how he feels, maybe he is just a little overwhelmed by laying it all out on the line to you and not getting the response he wanted”  
“Don’t blame me”  
“I’m not”  
“The Vic is still parked outside, I’m going to find Alex and I’ll call you back”  
When Chuck went inside he saw the table they had been sitting out was now empty, he waited until Alex had walked away from the table she was helping before going up to her.  
“Did your dad come back?”  
“No, he said he was going to find you”  
“He did, but now he is missing and doesn’t have his phone”  
“He left these” she pulled Casey’s keys from her apron pocket “He didn’t say why”  
“Shit” he grabbed the keys from her hand  
“Chuck, what is going on?”  
“I’ll let you know when I find out”

Chuck sat down on the barstool in this small diner in the middle of nowhere Illinois.  
“What are you doing here Bartowski?”  
“I’ve spends almost a month tracking you down and that’s the first thing you say”  
“I was going to ask about the facial hair but I kinda like it”  
“You’re a hard man to find”  
Casey shrugged, “Isn’t that the point of a getaway”  
“You could have told someone”  
“Alex knew”  
“Are you fucking kidding me? She watched me cry daily and spend every penny I have in my name looking for you, fucking awesome”  
“I told her not to tell anyone, and why would you waste your time and money on me?”  
“Because I love you and you left with no reason and I thought you were taken”  
“Well I’m fine” Casey still hadn’t looked up at him  
Chuck pulled the red box out of his coat pocket and set it on the counter “I didn’t know if you wanted this back”  
“Not really”  
A tear fell down Chuck’s cheek “Well have a nice life John” Chuck got up and headed towards the door, he looked back at Casey one more time “I’ll never stop loving you, so if you ever decide to stop pushing me away, you know where I’ll be”  
Chuck headed out to his rental truck, just before he opened the door someone grabbed him, he quickly turned around and kneed the guy in the groin, it was Casey.  
“Shit sorry”  
Casey groaned “Guess that’s my own fault” he rubbed the front of his pants.  
“You taught me that”  
“I want to take you somewhere”  
“Seriously?”  
“Please”  
Chuck handed Casey the keys “It’s the only thing the rental place had”  
“It’s nice, but I miss the Vic”  
“She is safe back at your car park”  
“Thanks”  
“So can I asked about why you’re here and why I found you at a diner called Casey’s?”  
“I own it”  
“You own a diner? Since when?”  
“Since about a year before I came to Burbank”  
“Can you give more detail without me asking a hundred questions?”  
“I grew up here, my uncle’s name was Casey, he died and left it to me, all the same people work here who have worked here for years so I don’t have to do much”  
“Is that where you got your name?”  
“Yeah he was named after his father, and Alexander was their middle names so I wanted to keep the family ties when I had to change my name and they made me pick John because it’s popular and they wanted a name that blends in”  
“You’ve never once told me about your family, well besides Alex”  
“It’s hard to talk about”  
“I get that, but you have been there for me dealing with this shit with my dad and now this hunt for my mom and the pain that is causing”  
Casey reached over and grabbed Chuck’s hand “Any luck with that?”  
“Sarah and Morgan have been working on it, I’ve been more focused on finding you, but I think we are getting really close”  
“What are you going to do if this leads to finding out your mom is a bad person”  
“Then I’ll deal with that when we get there, but I need to try because Ellie needs to know”  
“It’s hard to understand how two shitty people had two amazing kids”  
“Because we had to take care of each other and made a deal that we would never hurt each other like that and I think it made us stronger and love more to make up for what we were missing”  
“I’m glad to know both of you” he squeezed Chuck’s hand  
“Are we at a cemetery?”  
“This might sound weird but there is someone I want you to meet”  
“Oh, okay, not weird at all”  
“It’s a little weird”  
“If you say so” Chuck teased.  
Casey put the truck in park, can you give me a minute please”  
“Take all the time you need”  
“Thank you”  
Chuck watched Casey climb out of the truck and walk a few rows over to a grave, he kissed his hand and pressed that hand to the top of the stone for a moment before moving to another one row over. Where he kneeled down, Chuck wasn’t sure if it was rude to watch or not so he turned his back to the window and patiently waited for Casey to come back.  
It was only a few minutes before Casey tapped on the window.  
Chuck turned and opened the door, his heart sank when he saw the streaks down Casey’s cheeks where he had been crying. “Are you okay?”  
“Yeah” he held out his hand to help Chuck out, and didn’t let go.  
“When I was eleven, my dad Alexander and my little sister Charlie died in a boating accident, I was supposed to be there but I had broken my arm at football camp about a week earlier so I stayed home”  
Chuck looked at the headstone in front of them. Charlotte Avery Coburn, she was eight when she died.  
“I’m so sorry”  
“The three of us were always close, my mom was a lawyer and she worked a lot, so the three of us spent a lot of time together after they left, my mother quit her job, started drinking, probably did drugs, a lot of the time she left me at the diner with my uncle, he got free labor and I got away from her mental abuse and her revolving door of abusive boyfriend who did things to me that you can’t even imagine”  
“Oh my god Casey”  
“I wish Charlotte could have met you, she would probably adore you, she loved Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers”  
“Smart girl”  
“I acted out a lot and got in some trouble, then an old Marine buddy of my uncles came into the diner one night and told me that if I didn’t get my shit together I’d probably regret and I agreed, so I signed up the next day, I got to travel around meet new people”  
“Like Kathleen?”  
“Yeah, I was in California for six months before I got shipped out and Alex died, it was a year later that I found out my mother decided that losing both kids and her husband was too much and ended her life” Casey walked them over to the next stone that had his parents name on it. “It’s my fault she is gone”  
“No it’s not” Chuck pulled him into a hug “It’s not your fault at all”  
“She wasn’t the best mom and she made some mistakes, but she didn’t deserve all that pain”  
Chuck held him tighter as he cried. “I’m so sorry John”  
Casey stepped back, wiping his face with the sleeve of his coat “I don’t cry”  
“Oh my god you’re human, who would have thought”  
Casey managed to let out a small laugh “Thank you for being you Chuck Bartowski”  
“Thank you for letting me in and I’m so sorry I got mad at you about the Kathleen thing”  
“Seeing her again brought up a lot of memories and pain and confusion but I never thought it would affect you and I’m sorry that I just left, but as you know, I don’t deal with feelings very well but I do know that I love you like I’ve never loved anyone before and I want to be with you”  
“Just promise me that you will never disappear again, but if you need time alone or you want to fly to the middle of nowhere Illinois, just tell me, because the thought of losing you”  
“I’m sorry Chuck”  
“I love you too John” Chuck pulled him into a gentle kiss.  
“How about we go eat some really greasy bad for your health diner food”  
“Sounds like a great idea”

When they got back to the diner Chuck showed him all the family pictures hanging on the wall.  
“Look how freaking cute you were”  
“Were?”  
Chuck laughed “Don’t worry, you’re still cute, you were just less scary back then”  
“Johnny, who is this cutie?” A lady with bright red lipstick walked over to them  
“This is Chuck, my boyfriend, Chuck this is my aunt Betty”  
“Nice to meet you” Chuck held out his hand but she pulled him into a hug.  
“What is an adorable kid like you doing with big ol’ Johnny”  
“It’s the eyes”  
“Ah, he got those from his daddy, his uncle had the same ones, sucked me right in”  
“It’s a curse” Casey rolled his eyes. “Can we get a couple house specials, and a chocolate coffee for him”  
“Sure thing sweety”  
“What is chocolate coffee?”  
“You’ll see” Casey lead him over to a booth in the corner.  
“This is so cliche small town, I love it”  
“It has its charm” Casey grabbed Chuck’s hand “Feel this” he pulled his hand under the table  
“No, we are in public”  
Casey laughed “Not that moron” he moved Chuck’s fingers over something carved in the bottom of the table, “A C and C A, Alexander Charles and Charlotte Avery”  
“When did you do this?”  
“I was nine, it was Charlie’s sixth birthday, I had gotten a pocket knife, my mom hated it but my dad insisted that all country boys needed one”  
“Your dad insisted on knives, mine insisted on technology”  
“I didn’t even know what a computer was until I joined the N.S.A”  
“And you still suck at it”  
“There are other things I can suck at too” He growled in Chuck’s ear  
“You’re evil”  
“I know”

“This little house is so cute, all this land around, it’s so peaceful, except for the bugs”  
“The quiet is worth it”  
“Maybe one day we can move out here, settle down, have a few kids”  
“Sounds nice”  
“We would have to figure out how to get internet out here”  
“No” Casey adjusted so he could pull the small red box from his pocket “I’m thinking maybe we can start with this” he opened the box, “Life sucks sometimes, but it has sucked a lot less since I met you, and I want to have kids and grow old with you if you’ll have me”  
“Hell yeah I do” Chuck rolled over, almost making them fall out of the hammock, he covered Casey’s face in kisses.  
“Calm down before we end up on the ground” he grabbed Chuck’s left hand, sliding the ring on his finger.  
“Oh now you’re thinking about our safety when just ten minutes ago you were trying to have sex in the hammock?”  
“That would be worth the injury”  
“I think we should go inside and celebrate”  
“Ten more minutes, I want to watch the sun go down”  
“I love you John”  
“You too Bartowski”


End file.
